VOA [Voice of America] Global English : August 05, 2018 03:00PM-04:00PM EDT
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VOA [Voice of America] Global English : August 05, 2018 03:00PM-04:00PM EDT
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- 2018-08-05
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00:00:00
Sted leader President Trump has declared
00:00:02
a major disaster exists in California and
has made federal help available to fight
00:00:07
the wildfires that are ravaging the state
there are now seventeen major fires
00:00:12
burning throughout the state one area where
wildfires are intense is Shasta County
00:00:17
in the northern part of the state
where share of Tomba Sankoh says
00:00:21
a lot of people have had to leave their
homes displaced early forty thousand plus
00:00:25
people there's been about thirteen hundred
homes that have been destroyed but on
00:00:31
the good part we've repopulated many areas
and got people back into their homes as
00:00:38
quickly as possible and this is been the
largest and most destructive fire in
00:00:42
Shasta County history I believe about the
sixth in California eight people have
00:00:46
died in the fires police say all twenty
people aboard an old propeller plane were
00:00:51
killed when the aircraft crashed into
00:00:54
a mountainside in Southeast Switzerland
on Saturday you Levon men and nine women
00:00:59
died most of them were Swiss but
00:01:01
a couple and their son were
Austrian the plane is operated by
00:01:05
a Swiss company that offers tours using
vintage former Swiss military aircraft
00:01:11
eight places in Portugal have
broken local temperature records as
00:01:15
a wave of heat from North Africa swept
across the Iberian Peninsula temperatures
00:01:20
peaked at forty seven degrees Celsius
across much of the peninsula the World
00:01:25
Meteorological Organization says Continental
Europe record temperature for this
00:01:29
time of the year is forty eight degrees
Celsius and happened in Greece in one nine
00:01:34
hundred seventy seven the top story of the
hour NATO is mission in Afghanistan says
00:01:39
three of its soldiers were killed
when a suicide bomber attacked
00:01:42
a combat patrol Sunday the soldiers were
from the Czech Republic you can find more
00:01:47
on these and other late breaking and
developing stories from around the world
00:01:51
around the clock at v zero eight
mulish dot com and on the V.O.A.
00:01:57
News mobile app I'm Christopher
groups. Rerolling you know.
00:02:06
This is Encounter V.O.A.
00:02:09
Here's Carol Castillo. Welcome to Encounter
on The Voice of America on this edition
00:02:16
of the program an update on Russia's
interference in the twenty six thousand US
00:02:21
elections and Moscow's continued attacks
on the US democratic system as we approach
00:02:27
the November twenty eighth mid-term
congressional elections Hello again I'm Carol
00:02:32
Castiel some analysts and policy makers
have characterized Russian cyber attacks as
00:02:38
tantamount to an act of war no less
serious than the September eleventh two
00:02:43
thousand and one attacks
on U.S. Soil the U.S.
00:02:46
Intelligence community has long ago concluded
that Moscow interfered in the twenty
00:02:51
six thousand US elections
using cyber attacks and
00:02:54
a wide ranging dissent from ation campaign
especially via social media all condoned
00:03:00
and directed by the highest
levels of the Kremlin the U.S.
00:03:04
Intelligence community has ascertained that
these attacks were launched to bolster
00:03:09
Republican Donald Trump and to hurt
Democrat Hillary Clinton even though U.S.
00:03:13
President Donald Trump continues to
characterize the investigation into Russia's
00:03:17
interference in our democratic process as
00:03:20
a so-called Witch Hunt and calls for it to
end concrete evidence reveals that U.S.
00:03:25
Special Counsel Robert
Muller has been conducting
00:03:28
a thorough and impartial investigation
approximately twenty six Russians and four
00:03:33
former advisers to President Trump have
been indicted thus far the investigation
00:03:38
into Russian interference also includes
examining whether Trump associates
00:03:42
coordinated with Russia and whether Mr
Trump has obstructed the probe this past
00:03:47
week Mr Trump's former
campaign manager Paul man
00:03:51
a Ford who has extensive ties to the Kremlin
went on trial for tax evasion and bank
00:03:56
fraud in another stunning development in
mid July. The Justice Department announced
00:04:01
indictments against twelve Russian
nationals accusing them of engaging in
00:04:06
a sustained effort to hack Democrats'
emails and computer networks all twelve
00:04:11
defendants are members of the G.R.U.
00:04:13
a Russian federation Intelligence Agency
an enterable part of the Russian military
00:04:18
who are acting in their oficial capacities
the Justice Department says the hacking
00:04:23
targeted Hillary Clinton's campaign the
Democratic National Committee and the
00:04:28
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
with the intention to release and
00:04:32
weaponize that information on the
Internet under several names such as D.C.
00:04:36
Leaks and do so for two point zero
in recent days Facebook shut down
00:04:40
a sophisticated dissin from ation operation
on its platform that engaged in did
00:04:45
this of messaging ahead of the U.S.
00:04:47
Midterm elections Facebook said the
thirty two false pages and profiles lured
00:04:52
approximately three hundred thousand
people with deceptive ads and bogus events
00:04:57
designed to stir opposition to President
Trump and anger his base the company did
00:05:02
not definitively link the campaign to Russia
but said the tools and techniques were
00:05:07
reminiscent of those used by the internet
research agency the Kremlin linked group
00:05:12
accused of interfering in the twenty
sixteen election and there's more on July
00:05:17
sixteenth the US government arrested
00:05:19
a Russian national on charges of being
an unregistered agent of the Russian
00:05:24
government Maria Bettina
00:05:26
a gun rights advocate is accused of
secretly working to develop personal
00:05:30
relationships with influential conservative
Americans and infiltrate political
00:05:35
organizations such as the National
Rifle Association in mid July the U.S.
00:05:40
Department of Homeland Security said
that Russian hackers had successfully
00:05:44
penetrated the U.S.
00:05:46
Electric grid another dramatic disclosure
of the active threats posed by Moscow to
00:05:52
the nation's critical power infrastructure
well with us to continue our discussion
00:05:57
about the significance and implications
of raw. Because efforts to destabilize
00:06:01
American democracy through clandestine and
overt means are marks of Makowski He's
00:06:07
senior fellow at the Eurasia center
of the Atlantic Council and that's
00:06:10
a prominent think tank based here in
Washington and Brett Schaefer He's social
00:06:15
media analyst and communications officer
at the Alliance for securing democracy at
00:06:20
the German Marshall Fund of the United
States and the Alliance for securing
00:06:24
democracy is
00:06:25
a bipartisan project that tracks ongoing
efforts to subvert democracy in the United
00:06:30
States and Europe and both gentlemen
join me here at the V.O.A.
00:06:33
Broadcast Center in Washington welcome to
the program Mark the Makowski that was
00:06:38
a long introduction but it was important
to set things up the last time we were
00:06:42
here at these microphones with you we were
discussing Russia's interference in our
00:06:46
democracy This was back in March the special
counsel's office had indicted thirteen
00:06:51
Russian nationals and three Russian entities
for conducting an illegal information
00:06:56
warfare campaign now how significant are
these recent set of indictments from July
00:07:02
naming members of the G.R.U.
00:07:03
The Russian military intelligence arm these
indictments are incredibly significant
00:07:09
they obviously showcase not only
00:07:11
a continuation of Mahler's investigation
but in the acceleration of that
00:07:15
investigation and acceleration particularly
targeting Russian government activity
00:07:21
and Russian government involvement in
undermining the elections in two thousand and
00:07:25
sixteen the G.R.U.
00:07:27
Is Russian military intelligence charged
often in recent years in more robust task
00:07:34
of undermining the Kremlin's enemies
abroad not necessarily Solian classical
00:07:39
military campaigns so the fact that you
had twelve Russians indicted or who all
00:07:43
come from Russian military intelligence
backgrounds and as you said are active in
00:07:48
the Russian military intelligence showcases
that Mr Mahler's targeting individuals
00:07:53
that clearly had ties to the Kremlin and
who had ties to the Kremlin and or clearly
00:07:58
doing the bidding of the Kremlin. During
those activities so again I think it
00:08:01
showcases another layer of where this
investigation is going he has targeted not
00:08:06
only individuals who were U.S.
00:08:08
Citizens that were involved in engaging
potentially with Russians and favoring
00:08:14
Donald Trump but now he's also focused
on Russian officers as well as Russian
00:08:19
citizens like Miss buttin A which again
showcases that Mr Moller is very carefully
00:08:24
going through
00:08:25
a whole layer of involvement and I assume
we're going to see more and again the
00:08:30
timing of some of those announcements were
very interesting particularly as they
00:08:33
were Time to head of President Trump's
meeting with President Putin in Helsinki
00:08:36
several weeks ago turning to you which
Schaffer for your take on the significance
00:08:42
of these recent set of indictments as
they add to our understanding of Russia's
00:08:46
interference in our democracy as Mark
mentioned it gets us one step closer to the
00:08:50
Kremlin so before we were talking about
the internet research agency which
00:08:54
obviously has been set up in
a way that there is sort of
00:08:56
a distance between the IRA and the Kremlin
and that's on purpose that the Kremlin
00:09:02
has often use that tactic of plausible
deniability to say that we aren't actually
00:09:07
doing what everyone knows that we are doing
but now when we talk about the G.R.U.
00:09:12
There's no question that Vladimir Putin
is involved and also special counsel
00:09:17
Miller's document just had an incredible
amount of detail about how the G.R.U.
00:09:21
Worked and how hacking the hacking of the
Democratic party fits into the dissent
00:09:26
from Asian networks so you see how these
hacked e-mails were leaked through fake
00:09:31
online personas that the G.R.U.
00:09:33
Was running so there are
00:09:34
a lot of puzzle pieces and we're starting
to put them together slowly back to you
00:09:39
Mark so Makowski speaking of the dissin
from ation campaign this last week we have
00:09:44
disclosures by Facebook more manipulation
is going on so it continues to be an
00:09:49
active problem for Facebook and its billions
of users even after the company has
00:09:54
spent heavily to prevent it what do you
make of these recent revelations of trick
00:09:58
pages to sow discord. Among the American
populace you know I think this is one of
00:10:03
the potentially the most important aspects
of Mahler's investigation is it's an
00:10:07
investigation that showcases
00:10:09
a past activity but also it's an investigation
that is highlighting to the public
00:10:15
that things are going on that people don't
necessarily appreciate and the recent
00:10:20
Facebook announcement the announcement by
the Department of Homeland Security about
00:10:24
intrusion of our electrical grid as well
as other items that showcase that Russia
00:10:30
still is maintaining
00:10:32
a influence campaign to not only undermine
the upcoming elections but to sow
00:10:38
discord in the United States and divisions
between the American people between
00:10:42
people within the tribe ministration as
well as between members of Congress so I
00:10:47
think in many ways these announcements
are significant Facebook clearly took
00:10:51
a very significant step in making
00:10:53
a decision to publicize this ahead of
the elections some of the tactics were
00:10:57
similar again they didn't lay blame
directly on Russia but I think what you're
00:11:01
going to be seeing in the coming weeks
and months as we head to the elections
00:11:05
you're going to see more evidence come
out that reinforces what our Director of
00:11:09
National Intelligence Mr coats has
publicly claimed is an ongoing campaign to
00:11:14
undermine our democracy and he's stated
very publicly again President Trump senior
00:11:19
most intelligence official that the blue
lights are blinking red and the lights are
00:11:23
blinking red because Russia's campaign
never stopped in two thousand and sixteen
00:11:28
and this is why it's so important to get
to the bottom of the investigation not
00:11:32
only of what happened twenty sixteen but
also to address what's still ongoing and
00:11:36
that's what also you're seeing from some
of the sanctions calls even today from the
00:11:40
Congress turning to you Brett Schaefer this
is an area of expertise for you social
00:11:46
media what do you make of Facebook's recent
revelations and what do they say to you
00:11:50
Well I think there are two important
takeaways from what Facebook released first
00:11:55
the fact that they were transparent and
exposing these operations to the public is
00:11:59
key because if we're. Trying to educate
if we're talking about media literacy or
00:12:03
digital literacy the public needs to be
aware of what these campaigns look like so
00:12:08
when they encounter them in the future
they're inoculated to some degree so that
00:12:13
they have an awareness of what these
things look like and Facebook or Twitter
00:12:16
they're not just taking these pages down
when they see them they're actually
00:12:19
educating the public by releasing them
the other thing that I think is very
00:12:22
important about what Facebook did is they
use the words cordon aided in authentic
00:12:27
behavior so what they attacked was not
necessarily the content that they found
00:12:31
online so that we're not talking about
right leaning or left leaning content what
00:12:36
we're talking about is the manipulation
of the information space so we see for
00:12:40
example automated behavior online so bots
would be the common term of amplifying
00:12:44
certain content and swarming material online
so we see these groups that are set up
00:12:49
they're not real users they're not real
individuals So what Facebook was attacking
00:12:54
is that kind of behavior so they went after
the vulnerabilities on their platform
00:12:58
instead of attacking the content individually
and I think that's very important in
00:13:03
addition to Russia's hidden hand with respect
to these fake accounts fake ads bogus
00:13:09
events on social media did we learn
anything about cooperation with local
00:13:14
conspiracy cult groups who are echoing
for example the kinds of messages that
00:13:20
Russia wants to convey to sow discord
and even echoing President Trump's
00:13:24
vilification of the free press and so
forth direct cooperation is tough to
00:13:29
determine I don't think we've reached that
point yet what we can say is there is
00:13:33
often significant overlap in terms of what
these Russian linked accounts promote
00:13:38
and what domestic actors are promoting as
well so it's sometimes very difficult to
00:13:42
actually differentiate between the two
because these Russian actors often find
00:13:47
legitimate real American voices now they're
probably on the fringe So we're talking
00:13:52
things like Info Wars so these conspiratorial
sites so they're actually taking some
00:13:56
material that exists legitimately in the.
American information space and they're
00:14:02
promoting them and amplifying them what
they do is they find extreme voices and
00:14:07
they essentially turn up the volume on those
extreme voices so what that does is it
00:14:11
drowns out legitimate conversations in the
middle you're listening to Encounter on
00:14:15
The Voice of America my guests are Mark
so Makowski He's senior fellow at the
00:14:19
Atlantic Council's Eurasia center and Brett
Schaefer from him you just heard he's
00:14:24
social media analyst and communications
officer at the Alliance for securing
00:14:28
democracy at the German Marshall Fund of
the United States we're discussing the
00:14:32
status of the ongoing U.S.
00:14:33
Investigation into Russia's interference
in the twenty six thousand presidential
00:14:37
election and what measures are being taken
or not to safeguard the twenty eighteen
00:14:42
mid-term congressional elections this is
00:14:44
a reminder that our encounter podcast is
available for free download on i Tunes You
00:14:49
can find the download by clicking on the
i Tunes tab on our website you may also
00:14:53
follow me on Twitter at
Carol Castiel V.O.A.
00:14:55
Or connect with us on Facebook
here's a shout out and
00:14:59
a happy birthday to loyal listener from
Venice city in Edo State Nigeria Jonathan.
00:15:06
If you want to hear your name on the air
please send an e-mail to encounter at
00:15:10
V.O.A. News dot com or like us and leave
00:15:13
a comment on our Facebook page so back to
you Mark Simak off ski in addition to all
00:15:19
of these subversive efforts we're seeing
attempts to hack into the computer
00:15:24
networks of even members of Congress so we
saw in recent days attempts to hack the
00:15:30
computer network of Democratic Senator
Claire McCaskill This was discovered in time
00:15:36
but again what does this say about what
Russia is doing and what perhaps the United
00:15:41
States is not sufficiently doing to protect
members of Congress and others I think
00:15:46
the attacks again are an indication that
Russia is likely continuing to undergo
00:15:51
a coordinated coherent covert attempt to
sow discord and confusion in the United
00:15:57
States political system ahead of the midterm
election. That goal runs in parallel
00:16:02
to President Putin's objectives to try to
engage President charm and improve U.S.
00:16:07
Russian relations to benefit Russian interests
which you saw was the driver between
00:16:12
the two presidents after the NATO summit
in Brussels again I think that campaign
00:16:18
which is ongoing reinforces that Russia
despite an interest in seeing an American
00:16:23
president who wants to improve relations
believes that it's in its national
00:16:27
interest to undermine our elections and
also does not believe that sufficient costs
00:16:32
have been created for stopping that behavior
and so that gets to what hasn't been
00:16:37
done and I think what's important is the
trampling ministration at the senior most
00:16:41
levels particularly from the
president has not taken
00:16:44
a leadership role in calling out these
transgressions and not laid out for the
00:16:48
American public clearly at the presidential
level what's been done and what will be
00:16:53
done to ensure that our twenty eight Teano
actions are not interfered with and are
00:16:57
secure President Trump had not conducted
00:17:00
a national security council meeting on
this topic prior to the summit because of
00:17:05
the political pressure that he based on his
poor performance in Helsinki ultimately
00:17:09
he did conduct and in
00:17:11
a sea meeting in the last two weeks which
was about thirty minutes there was no
00:17:15
statement afterwards about what the U.S.
00:17:17
Government had decided collectively to do
my indications from many people in the
00:17:22
U.S.
00:17:22
Government is there's many things that we
could be doing some which were are doing
00:17:26
but need more presidential leadership so
I think one of the things that we should
00:17:29
be doing clearly is laying out publicly
what costs would be associated if the
00:17:33
elections are interfered with and again
this is why you're seeing Congress take
00:17:37
more of
00:17:38
a role there was new sanctions legislation
introduced by Senators Graham and Menendez
00:17:43
that will lay out
00:17:44
a whole range of measures of additional
sanctions that could be incurred against
00:17:49
Russia if the director of National
Intelligence does find that the elections in
00:17:53
twenty eighteen were hacked by Russia
or any foreign power not withstanding
00:17:58
congressional efforts Bret.
Still doesn't it create
00:18:02
a problem when at the highest levels of the
government in the White House there are
00:18:06
conflicting voices at best and statements
by the president that somehow the Russia
00:18:13
probe is a so-called Witch
Hunt and there is no longer
00:18:16
a cyber security expert at the
White House how can we have
00:18:20
a coherent and effective effort to combat
Russian subversion and perhaps other
00:18:27
accomplices in the United States without
00:18:29
a unified and strong voice it's enormously
problematic if you're talking about
00:18:33
deterrence you need to be consistent and
you need to be credible if on one day the
00:18:38
Senate comes out and says
as they did actually during
00:18:41
a hearing and said it's no longer
00:18:43
a question of if Russia interfered in our
election and continues to interfere in
00:18:47
our democratic society it's
00:18:49
a question of what we should do about
it that same day as you mentioned the
00:18:52
president came out with a tweet saying the
whole Russia probe is a witch hunt it's
00:18:56
a hoax so that's a huge
problem if you're not getting
00:19:00
a consistent message
delivered from the U.S.
00:19:03
Government president's own administration
Dan Coats for example has been pretty
00:19:07
consistent about this secretary Pompei Oh
they've been consistent where we've seen
00:19:11
inconsistent see is from the president
himself and that's obviously
00:19:15
a huge problem because if you're trying to
communicate to the Russians and to other
00:19:20
foreign powers who may want to copy
Russia's playbook you need to have this
00:19:24
consistent message and
00:19:26
a credible threat that there will be action
taken if this continues in the case of
00:19:30
Russia or if another foreign power starts
adopting what Russia has done and tries
00:19:35
to interfere in our democracy Simak of
Skee some policy makers and analysts have
00:19:40
said if Mr Trump continues to deny that
he has no ties to Russia and that there's
00:19:45
no reason to believe that there is any
so-called collusion then why wouldn't he
00:19:49
just want this investigation to go forward
I think the problem is he still believes
00:19:54
that the primary focus of this investigation
is to undermine his presidency and
00:19:57
undermine the legitimacy of
his. Election victory and so as
00:20:01
a result the entire investigation is
poisoned because of that target and that's
00:20:05
again unfortunate but also I think is the
reason why more investigation needs to be
00:20:10
insulated because it is so much more
important to get to the bottom of what the
00:20:14
Russians were doing so we can educate
ourselves educate our government and educate
00:20:17
the population about the vulnerabilities
that continue to exist which are exposed
00:20:22
daily as we see our electrical grids our
senators and congressman and potentially
00:20:27
our voting booths undermined as well as the
media that we listen to and things that
00:20:31
we've taken for granted on social media
that actually are being manipulated
00:20:35
potentially by
00:20:36
a foreign entity or foreign power you know
all those things I don't believe would
00:20:40
be as exposed or less there was
00:20:42
a mall or investigation so turning back
to you Brett Schaefer the best again goes
00:20:47
on this past week we had the first trial
within the context of the investigation of
00:20:52
Paul man
00:20:53
a fort Mr Trump's former campaign manager
albeit on charges unrelated to Russia
00:20:58
specifically they were related to his alleged
bank fraud in tax evasion nonetheless
00:21:04
he's very close to the Kremlin so other
things may come out and I think that's
00:21:09
clearly
00:21:10
a concern of this White House and we've
seen different messages again coming from
00:21:13
the White House about Paul man of Fort at
times the president has defended him his
00:21:18
recent tweets have said the man
a fort and Dykeman is also
00:21:21
a witch hunt at times he's trying to
distance himself from Paul Man afford saying
00:21:25
he was only on the campaign
for a few months didn't play
00:21:28
a critical role that I really wasn't that
involved so whatever comes out it doesn't
00:21:32
have any kind of implications in terms of
the presidency the election cetera so I
00:21:38
think there is definitely some concern
from this administration about what will
00:21:42
come out during the course of this trial
and of course then there are so many other
00:21:47
angles that of his former lawyer
so-called fixer Michael Cohen and
00:21:52
a number of revelations that may hurt Mr
Trump or not in the coming weeks depending
00:21:58
on how particular that. Killer aspect plays
out but back to you Mark so Makowski
00:22:04
just to remind us you know what the
goal of Russia is in all of this and to
00:22:07
understand that Russia is
00:22:09
a bad actor you know trying to create chaos
undermine democracy around the world
00:22:13
not just here in the United States but in
Europe and why you know not withstanding
00:22:18
good faith efforts to want to get along
with our adversaries leadin their Putin's
00:22:23
Russia why that is very problematic given
their behavior whether he's of the our
00:22:29
democracy interfering in eastern Ukraine
having annexed Crimea unlawfully and so
00:22:36
many other bad acts that Vladimir Putin
is engaged in including poisoning former
00:22:41
counterintelligence agents on British soil
etc You know I think it's important to
00:22:46
look at that international context of
Russia's actions again from Russia's
00:22:50
standpoint its actions are bad its actions
are defending Russian national interests
00:22:55
the key point is that Russian national
interests often times contradict American
00:23:00
national interests and what you're seeing
play out in the world stage in Syria in
00:23:05
the U.K.
00:23:05
With attacks in Ukraine with the continued
occupation of Eastern Ukraine as well as
00:23:11
Russian activity potentially to serve as
00:23:13
a spoiler in North Korea our continued
Russian activities that fundamentally
00:23:17
undermine and contradict American
interests and so the objective of having
00:23:22
a normal good relationship with Putin is
not an American objective you have to
00:23:27
showcase how that will serve American
interests and when Russia continues to take
00:23:32
destabilizing actions around the world
that undermine our interests you have to
00:23:36
understand is it possible to have
00:23:38
a positive normalize relationship with
Russia the president has sought to achieve
00:23:43
again he should have the ability and the
right to engage with the Russian president
00:23:47
but that has to be done in
00:23:48
a way that defends American interests and
I think President Putin has been very
00:23:52
smart in his engaging with the President
Trump he doesn't necessarily want to
00:23:55
normalize relations with the U.S.
00:23:56
I think he actually understands very clearly
the President Trump. It's damaged in
00:24:00
his ability to coherently define
00:24:03
a policy toward Russia because of all the
congressional and domestic political
00:24:07
pressure that the president faces what
President Putin wants to do is undermine
00:24:12
American democracy divide Americans and
even divide the administration and because
00:24:17
the president's very stirring to purge
to Russia you're seeing all that and the
00:24:21
hangover of Helsinki is the president came
back amidst an uproar of his performance
00:24:25
which further damaged U.S.
00:24:27
Credibility because there's such
00:24:29
a clear conflict within the administration
how to approach in many ways Helsinki
00:24:32
was a victory for Putin
not that improve U.S.
00:24:35
Russia ties but a further undermine
the president's ability to conduct
00:24:39
a really unity on U.S.
00:24:41
Foreign policy and of course it
strengthens his hand that is flooding me
00:24:45
a Putin Brett Schaefer this is a dictator
an autocrat who does not preside over
00:24:50
a democratic system they have elections
these elections are rigged there is no free
00:24:54
press there is persecution of journalists
and civil society groups these are not
00:24:59
the norms that the United States shares
Russia is no friend of the United States or
00:25:06
any democracy based on its behavior absolutely
and I think what Vladimir Putin also
00:25:11
wants to do is undermine the idea of
objective truth we've seen that clearly with
00:25:17
how the Kremlin media operates so when
Donald Trump goes out and says something
00:25:21
like the American press are the
enemy of the people that's
00:25:25
a line that sits right out of Putin's
playbook so this sort of conspiratorial world
00:25:30
that has been created by the Kremlin and
by Kremlin media is something that we've
00:25:34
seen somewhat adopted
concerning Lee in the U.S.
00:25:37
As well so I think when you look at the
marrying of the two ideas the most
00:25:41
concerning thing is the attack on press and
the attack on the idea of truth because
00:25:46
of course when you see things like M.H.
00:25:48
Seventeen the airliner that was downed
over Ukraine the Kremlin didn't come out
00:25:52
with one narrative but what happened they
came out with about thirty the same thing
00:25:55
with the script Paul poisoning in the U.K.
00:25:58
So when you have an. Ministration consistently
attacks the press and says not to
00:26:03
believe the press that is playing right
into their hands because if we no longer
00:26:08
can say what is true and what is not
true I think people in the middle just
00:26:12
disengage from the political and social
process and that's enormously dangerous for
00:26:16
democracies that is all the time we have
on this edition of encounter I'd like to
00:26:21
thank my guests marks in
00:26:22
a KOSKY He's senior fellow at the Atlantic
Council's Eurasia center and Brett
00:26:26
Schaefer social media analyst at the Alliance
for securing democracy at the German
00:26:31
Marshall Fund of the United States
Gentlemen thanks so much for your terrific
00:26:35
insights and analysis thank you thank you
encounter was produced in Washington our
00:26:40
engineer was joking I'm Carol join me again
next week for another encounter on the
00:26:46
Voice of America.
00:27:09
Welcome to a learning English
00:27:12
a daily thirty minute program from the
Voice of America I'm Ashley Thompson.
00:27:20
This program is aimed at
English learners so we speak
00:27:25
a little slower and we use words and phrases
especially written for people learning
00:27:32
English. On today's
00:27:38
program on I'm A Teo brings us
00:27:41
a new episode of words and their
stories you will also hear two reports
00:27:48
from Phil dear King. And
Jonathan Evans has a story about
00:27:53
a rare and costly bird species
but first Mario Ritter has
00:27:59
a report on the influence that Chinese
tourists are having on small European towns
00:28:06
. Civita de Bonier Reggio is an
00:28:13
ancient Italian village about one
hundred twenty kilometers north of Rome
00:28:20
it was built on
00:28:22
a flat area of Cannick Rock High
above the Tiber River Valley
00:28:30
Civita is known as a dying city with
00:28:34
a year round population of
just seven for many years
00:28:41
people there had long believed that
the world economy had passed them by
00:28:49
they had become used to seeing their
young people leave for jobs in other
00:28:55
places but
00:28:57
a wave of tourists mostly from China
is helping the town's economy
00:29:05
this year Civita expects eight
hundred thousand visitors
00:29:12
from small villages to famous
Capital Cities Europe has seen
00:29:18
a sharp increase in Chinese
tourists the China tourism
00:29:25
Academy and the Chinese online
travel agency C trip say more
00:29:32
than six million Chinese citizens
visited European countries in twenty
00:29:38
seventeen year opinion officials
estimate the number to be close to
00:29:45
ten million. The most popular
countries to visit among Chinese
00:29:51
tourists are Britain Italy
France Germany and Spain
00:29:59
euro stat the European Union's
statistics agency says Chinese
00:30:06
tourism in Europe has increased by
two hundred percent in the past ten
00:30:13
years those numbers are
expected to increase this year
00:30:21
which has been named the China
you tourism year the marketing
00:30:27
effort was jointly launched by
the European Union and China
00:30:34
Europeans are both pleased with and
concerned about the growing number of
00:30:41
visitors the increase has stressed
some European airports and
00:30:48
is adding to development
issues in some areas some of
00:30:54
servers have different concerns
strapped for an American
00:31:01
research company has called Chinese
tourism an unexpected tool that
00:31:08
China can use to exit or it's
an influence their group added
00:31:15
that the huge rise in the number of
outbound Chinese travelers means their
00:31:22
combined economic weight can
have sharp consequences
00:31:29
strapped for also said the Chinese
government's ability to give countries
00:31:36
approved destinations status is
00:31:39
a way to control where Chinese
tourists can and will go.
00:31:47
That is how the government greatly reduced
the number of Chinese people traveling
00:31:53
to South Korea last year strapped
for noted experts saw the
00:32:00
move as an effort to punish South
Korea for deploying an American made
00:32:06
missile defense system that the
Chinese government opposed
00:32:14
the European Union however sees
the rise in Chinese visitors as
00:32:20
important to the economy the E.U.
00:32:24
Commission said tourism has the
potential to contribute towards
00:32:31
employment and economic growth as
well as to development in rural
00:32:38
areas forty five year
old Roberto men Corelli
00:32:45
oversees a bed and breakfast hotel
and restaurant and bonier Reggio
00:32:51
a few kilometers west of civi
Todd to Banja Reggio she said
00:32:58
that most of the visitors to the area
are Chinese they have brought money
00:33:05
into the town and the tourism has
increased the energy here she said
00:33:12
it has also increased the number of
businesses there used to be only two
00:33:18
restaurants and town she
said now there are ten men
00:33:25
Corelli said she has even begun learning
some Mandarin Chinese to help her
00:33:31
communicate with the visitors
the increase of visitors has
00:33:38
brought much more money to the small
number of people who live in Civita
00:33:46
not everyone is happy about it. An older
woman who gave her name as Giovanni
00:33:53
described the inflow as an
invasion to many people she said
00:34:01
her complaint is similar to those heard
in some of Europe's most famous cities
00:34:08
like Venice Barcelona
and pair us critics say
00:34:15
they are already overcrowded during
the tourist season and they say the
00:34:21
additional waves of visitors from China
and other Asian countries have hurt the
00:34:28
quality of life of local people
and strained infrastructure
00:34:35
Wolfgang Arlt is director of the
China outbound tourism Research
00:34:41
Institute he wrote in a recent
blog entry that there is
00:34:48
a growing number of sometimes violent
protests by local people and
00:34:55
some places popular with
travelers only seven
00:35:01
percent of Chinese citizens have
passports compared to forty percent
00:35:08
of Americans and that means
Industry experts say that
00:35:15
the possibility for even more
growth and Chinese tourism is huge
00:35:22
Arlt research group says the number
of trips taken by Chinese travelers
00:35:29
will increase from one hundred forty
five million in twenty seventeen to four
00:35:36
hundred million by twenty thirty
if those numbers are correct
00:35:43
then Chinese would make up one fourth
of world tourism by that he or.
00:35:51
On Mario Ritter.
00:36:13
The twenty eighteen Atlantica hurricane
season started two months ago but many
00:36:19
Texas families are still struggling
to recover from the damage caused by
00:36:25
a major storm last year the storm
named hurricane Harvey hits
00:36:32
Houston and areas around the city Harvey
caused flooding in many neighborhoods
00:36:40
Samantha and Justin Scott and their three
children live in the bear creek village
00:36:46
neighborhood just west of Houston for
Samantha Scott trying to get their life back
00:36:53
to normal has been
00:36:54
a frightening experience I think when my
kids think back to the past year of our
00:37:00
life especially our oldest I think he's
just going to remember that I cried
00:37:06
a lot she said the Scots are still rebuilding
their home after the floods caused
00:37:13
by Hurricane HARVEY It was one of the
wettest storm systems in the history of the
00:37:20
United States when Harvey hit Texas it was
00:37:24
a Category four hurricane this was the
first such storm to strike the U.S.
00:37:31
Mainland since two thousand and five for
the past year Samantha and the children
00:37:37
temporarily moved away from their home
while Justin stayed behind to work on the
00:37:43
house their youngest child was only
00:37:47
a few months old when their home was flooded
last August. I pretty much missed out
00:37:54
on the better half of the first year of
his life Scott said of his youngest child
00:37:59
Kyle missing things like watching him
walk for the first time watching him do
00:38:06
a lot of the stuff that kids do for the
first time I missed the Scots are not
00:38:13
alone storm damage can be seen
in nearby homes it just hits you
00:38:20
it's like
00:38:21
a slap in the face every single time it's
like it doesn't and the hurricane is
00:38:28
just continuing Samantha said throughout
the Bear Creek neighborhood many
00:38:35
homes have for sale signs and building
materials along the side of the street
00:38:42
on one street
00:38:43
a neighbor said only three families decided
to stay and the others wanted to sell
00:38:49
their homes for the families who
stayed rebuilding has been slow
00:38:56
many people do not have
flood insurance the Scotts
00:39:01
a neighbor Joe Franz moved to Bear Creek
in one thousand nine hundred four five
00:39:07
years ago he cancelled his flood insurance
policy to save money hurricane Harvey
00:39:14
was the first time floodwaters entered
his home friend said he had to take
00:39:20
everything out of the house and leave
it by the street like the rest of the
00:39:24
neighborhood bear creek
flooded because it is next to
00:39:28
a manmade lake which supplies water to
homes and businesses other homes in the
00:39:35
Houston area flooded because they sit
in low lying areas. Flood plains are
00:39:42
like little valleys and they can hold just
about anything nature can throw at us
00:39:48
including Harvey noted
John Jacob of Texas an M.
00:39:52
University Jacob said preventing
major flooding will take time fifty
00:39:59
years from now we need to be able to reclaim
all these flood plains so part of this
00:40:06
can be through by out with federal money
but the other part is just going to be
00:40:11
awareness he said Jacob said there will
be other storms and floods in Houston
00:40:19
so when people are buying
00:40:20
a home they should study maps of land
heights and look for houses built on high
00:40:26
ground Another solution is to
raise houses Jacob said he
00:40:33
lives in a house that has
00:40:34
a one metre high space underneath the
home for now many people like the Scots
00:40:41
are stuck in their existing
home this has kind of put us in
00:40:46
a situation where we can't really afford
just to pick up and leave Justin said
00:40:54
but the Scot family is thankful for even
00:40:56
a little progress on the
day they spoke with V.O.A.
00:41:02
Their new bedroom furniture arrived it was
the first night the family was together
00:41:08
in their home since the floods
hit I'm Phil dear King.
00:41:21
Now the V.O.A.
00:41:23
Learning English program words and
their stories. On this show we explore
00:41:29
American idioms and expressions. We try
to help you understand common expressions
00:41:36
and how to use them in every day
speech. You know at times in life
00:41:43
things just do not go our way we all
have days when nothing goes right
00:41:51
in fact everything goes wrong
mistakes mishaps and misfortune
00:41:57
seem to follow us around if you have
00:42:01
a long period of bad luck you
could say you are snakebit
00:42:08
Mirriam Webster online dictionary claims
that this usage of snakepit dates back to
00:42:14
nine hundred fifty seven it does not say
much about the history of the word but
00:42:21
getting bit by any animal would not be
00:42:24
a sign of good luck so perhaps the
root of the term is that simple
00:42:31
if you are snake bit for
00:42:33
a really long period of time you may
start to think that you are jinxed
00:42:41
the word jinx can be either
a noun or a verb as a noun
00:42:47
a jinx leads to bad luck and
misfortune if you junk something
00:42:54
verb form you bring bad luck
to something or someone
00:43:01
a jinx is like
00:43:02
a curse you really believe that
everything you do will turn out badly
00:43:10
even if you don't believe in curses just
thinking that something bad will happen to
00:43:16
you might make it happen now let's
hear how these terms are used by
00:43:22
two friends at
00:43:24
a basketball game. Laura this is been
00:43:30
a great game there's only five minutes
left and the game is tied I wish our team
00:43:37
would just score and pull ahead
being tied is driving me crazy it's
00:43:43
a good thing I wore my lucky hat What are
you talking about there is no such thing
00:43:50
as luck we just need to play better than
the other team look our team has been
00:43:56
snakebit For weeks we've lost
our last five games so they
00:44:03
need all the help they can get don't worry
there is no way we are going to lose
00:44:10
this game don't jinx us quick
knock on wood to break the jinx
00:44:17
there's no such thing as a
chink and I will not hit
00:44:21
a piece of wood or anything else
I'm not superstitious Well I am.
00:44:29
There maybe that will break the
curse you look foolish really
00:44:36
well our team just scored.
Some sports lovers and many
00:44:42
players are superstitious It is
00:44:46
a common part of the
sporting culture and we have
00:44:50
a special word for players who are having
00:44:53
a string of bad luck we say they
have the year. Having the year
00:45:01
is
00:45:01
a kind of nervous tension that affects
the person's performance for example
00:45:08
a baseball pitcher had
00:45:10
a bad case of the year. He could
not find his strike zone so his
00:45:16
coach replaced him in the game with
another player athletes and non athletes
00:45:23
alike can be snakebit. And some people
just seem to be snake bit all the time
00:45:31
you could say they were born under
00:45:33
a bad sign that means they were born
during an unlucky time of the year.
00:45:52
The bad sign in this expression relates to
00:45:56
a straw logy William Bell helped to
write this song he wanted to compose
00:46:02
a blues song about
00:46:04
a strongly gene. If
00:46:18
you were born under a bad sign
it means the stars were in
00:46:22
a formation that have worked against you
since birth this is also where we get the
00:46:29
expression it just wasn't in the stars
but we'll say of star expressions for
00:46:34
another program keep in mind being
snake bit is more than just one
00:46:41
unlucky thing happening to you so getting
dismissed from work can be an unlucky
00:46:48
event but if everything else in your life
is going great you would not say that you
00:46:55
are stank bit in order to be
truly snakebit you must have
00:47:00
a series of failures or problems and that's
words and their stories I'm on I'm A
00:47:07
Teo.
00:47:23
Small or large costly and even
rare birds can be found at
00:47:30
a pet store in the American community
of Falls Church Virginia and
00:47:36
it is clear from the name of the store
what kind of birds are available for sale
00:47:43
parrots parrots parrots just
parrots the small business is
00:47:50
filled with many bright colored parrots
from cockatoos to giant macaws
00:47:57
and small parakeets. Ed Willis
is the owner of the pet
00:48:04
store Willis says he received his
first PARROT when he was eighteen
00:48:10
years old since then he has
not spent another day without
00:48:17
a parrot Willis says the birds make
wonderful pets and can develop
00:48:23
strong feelings toward people is so unique
partnership according to a parrot and
00:48:29
a person and their independence but they
sure still needed they're happy to see you
00:48:34
when you come all it's just it's
00:48:37
a really special relationship Willis opened
his store in one thousand nine hundred
00:48:44
eighty eight today it is one of just
two businesses in the Washington
00:48:50
D.C. Area that only sell
parrots the hyacinth macaw
00:48:57
a rare parrot costs almost
seventeen thousand dollars there
00:49:03
are only about six thousand five hundred
of these birds left in the world
00:49:10
the parrot in Ed Willis's
store is young and has
00:49:15
a long life ahead of it McCaw as
can live up to one hundred years.
00:49:22
So from the neck up they like to have their
feathers ruffled in essentially. And
00:49:29
then from the neck down I like it
00:49:30
a smooth. Willis's arms are covered
with claw marks and by from
00:49:37
holding and caring for the big birds where
they're not really trying to hurt me
00:49:43
sometimes it just playfulness and sometimes
are scared overhaul. The story is
00:49:49
a busy place children and adults alike
come to the store to see the different
00:49:55
kinds of parrots but not all the
birds at the store are for sale
00:50:03
some have become like family to Willis
and his daughter Kelsey one such
00:50:09
bird is
00:50:10
a cockatoo named Snowball Willis
says he got snowball when the
00:50:17
bird was small. Ballers are not really
00:50:21
a typical cockatoo he's actually very quiet
and very friendly. A lot of doctors are
00:50:27
known for being a fairly
loud and he has not been so
00:50:31
a lot of people are interested
in the drug. I'm Jonathan Evans.
00:50:56
For many people the college admissions
process can seem mysterious but what
00:51:03
college admissions officials want is not
00:51:06
a secret schools present what they
want in the form of big data that
00:51:12
information is available to anyone
online. Students can use big data when
00:51:19
seeking admission to colleges or universities
where they will be strong candidates
00:51:26
this increases their chances for admission
and financial aid Here's what college
00:51:33
applicants should look for colleges
provide admissions and financial aid
00:51:39
statistics called the common data set
to satisfy the demands of education
00:51:45
publisher's notes Lynn O'Shaughnessy
00:51:48
a college consultant the information can
be found by searching the college's name
00:51:55
and the term common data set or at
websites for comparing colleges
00:52:02
the statistics for each school include
the cost to attend how much student loan
00:52:09
debt the average person builds up while
in college what percentage of applicants
00:52:15
are accepted and average class grades
and test results of incoming first year
00:52:22
students as an example let's consider
Stanford University in California at
00:52:28
Stanford seventy five percent of incoming
students for the twenty sixteen to twenty
00:52:35
seventeen school year had seven hundred
or above on the mathematics part of the
00:52:41
S.A.T.
00:52:43
Also at Stanford ninety four percent of
incoming students had grade point averages
00:52:49
above three point seven five
four point zero is considered
00:52:54
a perfect but higher grade point
averages are possible in addition ninety
00:53:01
five percent of the new arrivals were in
the top ten percent of their high school
00:53:07
class. Yes having fine grades and test
results do not guarantee admission to
00:53:13
a top college Stanford except just
five percent of people who apply
00:53:20
but knowing about the students who were
accepted can help applicants they can stop
00:53:27
thinking about unlikely choices for higher
education and focus instead on schools
00:53:33
where they are more likely to gain
admission experts say having grades and
00:53:40
test results that are above the school's
average can help with both an applicant's
00:53:46
chances of being accepted and getting
financial aid in the United States
00:53:53
the best financial aid deals do not always
come from highly competitive schools or
00:53:59
large public universities sometimes they
come from smaller colleges that are trying
00:54:06
harder to interest good applicants
says Cohen another college consultant
00:54:13
information about how
00:54:15
a school examines applicants can be found
in the data sets admissions factors
00:54:22
they show how each school rates one thousand
measures of admission everything from
00:54:27
class rank to after school activities
many schools for example think the
00:54:34
difficulty of an applicant's high school
classes and their grade point average are
00:54:40
very important some schools consider
standardized tests like the S.A.T.
00:54:47
As important all others do not most U.S.
00:54:52
Colleges do not fully meet the financial
needs of their students even when federal
00:54:58
student loans are considered families
are expected to find the extra money
00:55:04
themselves often through parental or
private student loans. The size of
00:55:10
a student's need depends on how willing
each school is to give them money for
00:55:16
example the cost of attending
New York University or N.Y.U.
00:55:22
And the University of
Southern California or U.S.C.
00:55:26
Is about the same about seventy two
thousand dollars a year U.S.C.
00:55:33
However fully met the financial need of
eighty point four percent of first year
00:55:38
students who received aid and why you
fully met the financial need of only nine
00:55:44
point one percent of its first year aid
recipients families who do not need student
00:55:50
loans for school can still get the cost of
00:55:53
a school reduced through something known
as merit aid merit aid is less common at
00:56:00
public and highly competitive schools
that have many applicants U.C.L.A.
00:56:06
For example offered merit aid which
averaged four thousand eight hundred forty
00:56:12
seven dollars to only two point six
percent of its first year students cost
00:56:19
is important say most experts they warned
that while it is important to have
00:56:25
a college education you do not
want to finish school with
00:56:29
a large debt I'm Phil dear King.
00:56:42
And that's our program today listen again
tomorrow for more stories and information
00:56:49
from around the world I'm.
00:57:08
New. At least six people were
killed thirteen others room. On
00:57:14
Sunday. The deadliest explosion happened
in the capital Mogadishu where four people
00:57:19
were killed in a car bombing outside
00:57:22
a coffee shop on the capital's busiest road
officials believe the car was driven by
00:57:26
a suicide bomber earlier in the day two
people were killed and four others were
00:57:31
wounded after a suicide
car bomb exploded near
00:57:34
a military vehicle in Afghan all of the
victims were government shoulder soldiers
00:57:41
claimed responsibility for that attack NATO
is mission in Afghanistan says three of
00:57:46
its soldiers were killed when
a suicide bomber attacked
00:57:49
a combat patrol on Sunday the
soldiers were from the Czech Republic
00:57:54
a strong earthquake struck the Indonesian
tourist island of Lombok on Sunday go.
00:00:00
Sted leader President Trump has declared
00:00:02
a major disaster exists in California and
has made federal help available to fight
00:00:07
the wildfires that are ravaging the state
there are now seventeen major fires
00:00:12
burning throughout the state one area where
wildfires are intense is Shasta County
00:00:17
in the northern part of the state
where share of Tomba Sankoh says
00:00:21
a lot of people have had to leave their
homes displaced early forty thousand plus
00:00:25
people there's been about thirteen hundred
homes that have been destroyed but on
00:00:31
the good part we've repopulated many areas
and got people back into their homes as
00:00:38
quickly as possible and this is been the
largest and most destructive fire in
00:00:42
Shasta County history I believe about the
sixth in California eight people have
00:00:46
died in the fires police say all twenty
people aboard an old propeller plane were
00:00:51
killed when the aircraft crashed into
00:00:54
a mountainside in Southeast Switzerland
on Saturday you Levon men and nine women
00:00:59
died most of them were Swiss but
00:01:01
a couple and their son were
Austrian the plane is operated by
00:01:05
a Swiss company that offers tours using
vintage former Swiss military aircraft
00:01:11
eight places in Portugal have
broken local temperature records as
00:01:15
a wave of heat from North Africa swept
across the Iberian Peninsula temperatures
00:01:20
peaked at forty seven degrees Celsius
across much of the peninsula the World
00:01:25
Meteorological Organization says Continental
Europe record temperature for this
00:01:29
time of the year is forty eight degrees
Celsius and happened in Greece in one nine
00:01:34
hundred seventy seven the top story of the
hour NATO is mission in Afghanistan says
00:01:39
three of its soldiers were killed
when a suicide bomber attacked
00:01:42
a combat patrol Sunday the soldiers were
from the Czech Republic you can find more
00:01:47
on these and other late breaking and
developing stories from around the world
00:01:51
around the clock at v zero eight
mulish dot com and on the V.O.A.
00:01:57
News mobile app I'm Christopher
groups. Rerolling you know.
00:02:06
This is Encounter V.O.A.
00:02:09
Here's Carol Castillo. Welcome to Encounter
on The Voice of America on this edition
00:02:16
of the program an update on Russia's
interference in the twenty six thousand US
00:02:21
elections and Moscow's continued attacks
on the US democratic system as we approach
00:02:27
the November twenty eighth mid-term
congressional elections Hello again I'm Carol
00:02:32
Castiel some analysts and policy makers
have characterized Russian cyber attacks as
00:02:38
tantamount to an act of war no less
serious than the September eleventh two
00:02:43
thousand and one attacks
on U.S. Soil the U.S.
00:02:46
Intelligence community has long ago concluded
that Moscow interfered in the twenty
00:02:51
six thousand US elections
using cyber attacks and
00:02:54
a wide ranging dissent from ation campaign
especially via social media all condoned
00:03:00
and directed by the highest
levels of the Kremlin the U.S.
00:03:04
Intelligence community has ascertained that
these attacks were launched to bolster
00:03:09
Republican Donald Trump and to hurt
Democrat Hillary Clinton even though U.S.
00:03:13
President Donald Trump continues to
characterize the investigation into Russia's
00:03:17
interference in our democratic process as
00:03:20
a so-called Witch Hunt and calls for it to
end concrete evidence reveals that U.S.
00:03:25
Special Counsel Robert
Muller has been conducting
00:03:28
a thorough and impartial investigation
approximately twenty six Russians and four
00:03:33
former advisers to President Trump have
been indicted thus far the investigation
00:03:38
into Russian interference also includes
examining whether Trump associates
00:03:42
coordinated with Russia and whether Mr
Trump has obstructed the probe this past
00:03:47
week Mr Trump's former
campaign manager Paul man
00:03:51
a Ford who has extensive ties to the Kremlin
went on trial for tax evasion and bank
00:03:56
fraud in another stunning development in
mid July. The Justice Department announced
00:04:01
indictments against twelve Russian
nationals accusing them of engaging in
00:04:06
a sustained effort to hack Democrats'
emails and computer networks all twelve
00:04:11
defendants are members of the G.R.U.
00:04:13
a Russian federation Intelligence Agency
an enterable part of the Russian military
00:04:18
who are acting in their oficial capacities
the Justice Department says the hacking
00:04:23
targeted Hillary Clinton's campaign the
Democratic National Committee and the
00:04:28
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
with the intention to release and
00:04:32
weaponize that information on the
Internet under several names such as D.C.
00:04:36
Leaks and do so for two point zero
in recent days Facebook shut down
00:04:40
a sophisticated dissin from ation operation
on its platform that engaged in did
00:04:45
this of messaging ahead of the U.S.
00:04:47
Midterm elections Facebook said the
thirty two false pages and profiles lured
00:04:52
approximately three hundred thousand
people with deceptive ads and bogus events
00:04:57
designed to stir opposition to President
Trump and anger his base the company did
00:05:02
not definitively link the campaign to Russia
but said the tools and techniques were
00:05:07
reminiscent of those used by the internet
research agency the Kremlin linked group
00:05:12
accused of interfering in the twenty
sixteen election and there's more on July
00:05:17
sixteenth the US government arrested
00:05:19
a Russian national on charges of being
an unregistered agent of the Russian
00:05:24
government Maria Bettina
00:05:26
a gun rights advocate is accused of
secretly working to develop personal
00:05:30
relationships with influential conservative
Americans and infiltrate political
00:05:35
organizations such as the National
Rifle Association in mid July the U.S.
00:05:40
Department of Homeland Security said
that Russian hackers had successfully
00:05:44
penetrated the U.S.
00:05:46
Electric grid another dramatic disclosure
of the active threats posed by Moscow to
00:05:52
the nation's critical power infrastructure
well with us to continue our discussion
00:05:57
about the significance and implications
of raw. Because efforts to destabilize
00:06:01
American democracy through clandestine and
overt means are marks of Makowski He's
00:06:07
senior fellow at the Eurasia center
of the Atlantic Council and that's
00:06:10
a prominent think tank based here in
Washington and Brett Schaefer He's social
00:06:15
media analyst and communications officer
at the Alliance for securing democracy at
00:06:20
the German Marshall Fund of the United
States and the Alliance for securing
00:06:24
democracy is
00:06:25
a bipartisan project that tracks ongoing
efforts to subvert democracy in the United
00:06:30
States and Europe and both gentlemen
join me here at the V.O.A.
00:06:33
Broadcast Center in Washington welcome to
the program Mark the Makowski that was
00:06:38
a long introduction but it was important
to set things up the last time we were
00:06:42
here at these microphones with you we were
discussing Russia's interference in our
00:06:46
democracy This was back in March the special
counsel's office had indicted thirteen
00:06:51
Russian nationals and three Russian entities
for conducting an illegal information
00:06:56
warfare campaign now how significant are
these recent set of indictments from July
00:07:02
naming members of the G.R.U.
00:07:03
The Russian military intelligence arm these
indictments are incredibly significant
00:07:09
they obviously showcase not only
00:07:11
a continuation of Mahler's investigation
but in the acceleration of that
00:07:15
investigation and acceleration particularly
targeting Russian government activity
00:07:21
and Russian government involvement in
undermining the elections in two thousand and
00:07:25
sixteen the G.R.U.
00:07:27
Is Russian military intelligence charged
often in recent years in more robust task
00:07:34
of undermining the Kremlin's enemies
abroad not necessarily Solian classical
00:07:39
military campaigns so the fact that you
had twelve Russians indicted or who all
00:07:43
come from Russian military intelligence
backgrounds and as you said are active in
00:07:48
the Russian military intelligence showcases
that Mr Mahler's targeting individuals
00:07:53
that clearly had ties to the Kremlin and
who had ties to the Kremlin and or clearly
00:07:58
doing the bidding of the Kremlin. During
those activities so again I think it
00:08:01
showcases another layer of where this
investigation is going he has targeted not
00:08:06
only individuals who were U.S.
00:08:08
Citizens that were involved in engaging
potentially with Russians and favoring
00:08:14
Donald Trump but now he's also focused
on Russian officers as well as Russian
00:08:19
citizens like Miss buttin A which again
showcases that Mr Moller is very carefully
00:08:24
going through
00:08:25
a whole layer of involvement and I assume
we're going to see more and again the
00:08:30
timing of some of those announcements were
very interesting particularly as they
00:08:33
were Time to head of President Trump's
meeting with President Putin in Helsinki
00:08:36
several weeks ago turning to you which
Schaffer for your take on the significance
00:08:42
of these recent set of indictments as
they add to our understanding of Russia's
00:08:46
interference in our democracy as Mark
mentioned it gets us one step closer to the
00:08:50
Kremlin so before we were talking about
the internet research agency which
00:08:54
obviously has been set up in
a way that there is sort of
00:08:56
a distance between the IRA and the Kremlin
and that's on purpose that the Kremlin
00:09:02
has often use that tactic of plausible
deniability to say that we aren't actually
00:09:07
doing what everyone knows that we are doing
but now when we talk about the G.R.U.
00:09:12
There's no question that Vladimir Putin
is involved and also special counsel
00:09:17
Miller's document just had an incredible
amount of detail about how the G.R.U.
00:09:21
Worked and how hacking the hacking of the
Democratic party fits into the dissent
00:09:26
from Asian networks so you see how these
hacked e-mails were leaked through fake
00:09:31
online personas that the G.R.U.
00:09:33
Was running so there are
00:09:34
a lot of puzzle pieces and we're starting
to put them together slowly back to you
00:09:39
Mark so Makowski speaking of the dissin
from ation campaign this last week we have
00:09:44
disclosures by Facebook more manipulation
is going on so it continues to be an
00:09:49
active problem for Facebook and its billions
of users even after the company has
00:09:54
spent heavily to prevent it what do you
make of these recent revelations of trick
00:09:58
pages to sow discord. Among the American
populace you know I think this is one of
00:10:03
the potentially the most important aspects
of Mahler's investigation is it's an
00:10:07
investigation that showcases
00:10:09
a past activity but also it's an investigation
that is highlighting to the public
00:10:15
that things are going on that people don't
necessarily appreciate and the recent
00:10:20
Facebook announcement the announcement by
the Department of Homeland Security about
00:10:24
intrusion of our electrical grid as well
as other items that showcase that Russia
00:10:30
still is maintaining
00:10:32
a influence campaign to not only undermine
the upcoming elections but to sow
00:10:38
discord in the United States and divisions
between the American people between
00:10:42
people within the tribe ministration as
well as between members of Congress so I
00:10:47
think in many ways these announcements
are significant Facebook clearly took
00:10:51
a very significant step in making
00:10:53
a decision to publicize this ahead of
the elections some of the tactics were
00:10:57
similar again they didn't lay blame
directly on Russia but I think what you're
00:11:01
going to be seeing in the coming weeks
and months as we head to the elections
00:11:05
you're going to see more evidence come
out that reinforces what our Director of
00:11:09
National Intelligence Mr coats has
publicly claimed is an ongoing campaign to
00:11:14
undermine our democracy and he's stated
very publicly again President Trump senior
00:11:19
most intelligence official that the blue
lights are blinking red and the lights are
00:11:23
blinking red because Russia's campaign
never stopped in two thousand and sixteen
00:11:28
and this is why it's so important to get
to the bottom of the investigation not
00:11:32
only of what happened twenty sixteen but
also to address what's still ongoing and
00:11:36
that's what also you're seeing from some
of the sanctions calls even today from the
00:11:40
Congress turning to you Brett Schaefer this
is an area of expertise for you social
00:11:46
media what do you make of Facebook's recent
revelations and what do they say to you
00:11:50
Well I think there are two important
takeaways from what Facebook released first
00:11:55
the fact that they were transparent and
exposing these operations to the public is
00:11:59
key because if we're. Trying to educate
if we're talking about media literacy or
00:12:03
digital literacy the public needs to be
aware of what these campaigns look like so
00:12:08
when they encounter them in the future
they're inoculated to some degree so that
00:12:13
they have an awareness of what these
things look like and Facebook or Twitter
00:12:16
they're not just taking these pages down
when they see them they're actually
00:12:19
educating the public by releasing them
the other thing that I think is very
00:12:22
important about what Facebook did is they
use the words cordon aided in authentic
00:12:27
behavior so what they attacked was not
necessarily the content that they found
00:12:31
online so that we're not talking about
right leaning or left leaning content what
00:12:36
we're talking about is the manipulation
of the information space so we see for
00:12:40
example automated behavior online so bots
would be the common term of amplifying
00:12:44
certain content and swarming material online
so we see these groups that are set up
00:12:49
they're not real users they're not real
individuals So what Facebook was attacking
00:12:54
is that kind of behavior so they went after
the vulnerabilities on their platform
00:12:58
instead of attacking the content individually
and I think that's very important in
00:13:03
addition to Russia's hidden hand with respect
to these fake accounts fake ads bogus
00:13:09
events on social media did we learn
anything about cooperation with local
00:13:14
conspiracy cult groups who are echoing
for example the kinds of messages that
00:13:20
Russia wants to convey to sow discord
and even echoing President Trump's
00:13:24
vilification of the free press and so
forth direct cooperation is tough to
00:13:29
determine I don't think we've reached that
point yet what we can say is there is
00:13:33
often significant overlap in terms of what
these Russian linked accounts promote
00:13:38
and what domestic actors are promoting as
well so it's sometimes very difficult to
00:13:42
actually differentiate between the two
because these Russian actors often find
00:13:47
legitimate real American voices now they're
probably on the fringe So we're talking
00:13:52
things like Info Wars so these conspiratorial
sites so they're actually taking some
00:13:56
material that exists legitimately in the.
American information space and they're
00:14:02
promoting them and amplifying them what
they do is they find extreme voices and
00:14:07
they essentially turn up the volume on those
extreme voices so what that does is it
00:14:11
drowns out legitimate conversations in the
middle you're listening to Encounter on
00:14:15
The Voice of America my guests are Mark
so Makowski He's senior fellow at the
00:14:19
Atlantic Council's Eurasia center and Brett
Schaefer from him you just heard he's
00:14:24
social media analyst and communications
officer at the Alliance for securing
00:14:28
democracy at the German Marshall Fund of
the United States we're discussing the
00:14:32
status of the ongoing U.S.
00:14:33
Investigation into Russia's interference
in the twenty six thousand presidential
00:14:37
election and what measures are being taken
or not to safeguard the twenty eighteen
00:14:42
mid-term congressional elections this is
00:14:44
a reminder that our encounter podcast is
available for free download on i Tunes You
00:14:49
can find the download by clicking on the
i Tunes tab on our website you may also
00:14:53
follow me on Twitter at
Carol Castiel V.O.A.
00:14:55
Or connect with us on Facebook
here's a shout out and
00:14:59
a happy birthday to loyal listener from
Venice city in Edo State Nigeria Jonathan.
00:15:06
If you want to hear your name on the air
please send an e-mail to encounter at
00:15:10
V.O.A. News dot com or like us and leave
00:15:13
a comment on our Facebook page so back to
you Mark Simak off ski in addition to all
00:15:19
of these subversive efforts we're seeing
attempts to hack into the computer
00:15:24
networks of even members of Congress so we
saw in recent days attempts to hack the
00:15:30
computer network of Democratic Senator
Claire McCaskill This was discovered in time
00:15:36
but again what does this say about what
Russia is doing and what perhaps the United
00:15:41
States is not sufficiently doing to protect
members of Congress and others I think
00:15:46
the attacks again are an indication that
Russia is likely continuing to undergo
00:15:51
a coordinated coherent covert attempt to
sow discord and confusion in the United
00:15:57
States political system ahead of the midterm
election. That goal runs in parallel
00:16:02
to President Putin's objectives to try to
engage President charm and improve U.S.
00:16:07
Russian relations to benefit Russian interests
which you saw was the driver between
00:16:12
the two presidents after the NATO summit
in Brussels again I think that campaign
00:16:18
which is ongoing reinforces that Russia
despite an interest in seeing an American
00:16:23
president who wants to improve relations
believes that it's in its national
00:16:27
interest to undermine our elections and
also does not believe that sufficient costs
00:16:32
have been created for stopping that behavior
and so that gets to what hasn't been
00:16:37
done and I think what's important is the
trampling ministration at the senior most
00:16:41
levels particularly from the
president has not taken
00:16:44
a leadership role in calling out these
transgressions and not laid out for the
00:16:48
American public clearly at the presidential
level what's been done and what will be
00:16:53
done to ensure that our twenty eight Teano
actions are not interfered with and are
00:16:57
secure President Trump had not conducted
00:17:00
a national security council meeting on
this topic prior to the summit because of
00:17:05
the political pressure that he based on his
poor performance in Helsinki ultimately
00:17:09
he did conduct and in
00:17:11
a sea meeting in the last two weeks which
was about thirty minutes there was no
00:17:15
statement afterwards about what the U.S.
00:17:17
Government had decided collectively to do
my indications from many people in the
00:17:22
U.S.
00:17:22
Government is there's many things that we
could be doing some which were are doing
00:17:26
but need more presidential leadership so
I think one of the things that we should
00:17:29
be doing clearly is laying out publicly
what costs would be associated if the
00:17:33
elections are interfered with and again
this is why you're seeing Congress take
00:17:37
more of
00:17:38
a role there was new sanctions legislation
introduced by Senators Graham and Menendez
00:17:43
that will lay out
00:17:44
a whole range of measures of additional
sanctions that could be incurred against
00:17:49
Russia if the director of National
Intelligence does find that the elections in
00:17:53
twenty eighteen were hacked by Russia
or any foreign power not withstanding
00:17:58
congressional efforts Bret.
Still doesn't it create
00:18:02
a problem when at the highest levels of the
government in the White House there are
00:18:06
conflicting voices at best and statements
by the president that somehow the Russia
00:18:13
probe is a so-called Witch
Hunt and there is no longer
00:18:16
a cyber security expert at the
White House how can we have
00:18:20
a coherent and effective effort to combat
Russian subversion and perhaps other
00:18:27
accomplices in the United States without
00:18:29
a unified and strong voice it's enormously
problematic if you're talking about
00:18:33
deterrence you need to be consistent and
you need to be credible if on one day the
00:18:38
Senate comes out and says
as they did actually during
00:18:41
a hearing and said it's no longer
00:18:43
a question of if Russia interfered in our
election and continues to interfere in
00:18:47
our democratic society it's
00:18:49
a question of what we should do about
it that same day as you mentioned the
00:18:52
president came out with a tweet saying the
whole Russia probe is a witch hunt it's
00:18:56
a hoax so that's a huge
problem if you're not getting
00:19:00
a consistent message
delivered from the U.S.
00:19:03
Government president's own administration
Dan Coats for example has been pretty
00:19:07
consistent about this secretary Pompei Oh
they've been consistent where we've seen
00:19:11
inconsistent see is from the president
himself and that's obviously
00:19:15
a huge problem because if you're trying to
communicate to the Russians and to other
00:19:20
foreign powers who may want to copy
Russia's playbook you need to have this
00:19:24
consistent message and
00:19:26
a credible threat that there will be action
taken if this continues in the case of
00:19:30
Russia or if another foreign power starts
adopting what Russia has done and tries
00:19:35
to interfere in our democracy Simak of
Skee some policy makers and analysts have
00:19:40
said if Mr Trump continues to deny that
he has no ties to Russia and that there's
00:19:45
no reason to believe that there is any
so-called collusion then why wouldn't he
00:19:49
just want this investigation to go forward
I think the problem is he still believes
00:19:54
that the primary focus of this investigation
is to undermine his presidency and
00:19:57
undermine the legitimacy of
his. Election victory and so as
00:20:01
a result the entire investigation is
poisoned because of that target and that's
00:20:05
again unfortunate but also I think is the
reason why more investigation needs to be
00:20:10
insulated because it is so much more
important to get to the bottom of what the
00:20:14
Russians were doing so we can educate
ourselves educate our government and educate
00:20:17
the population about the vulnerabilities
that continue to exist which are exposed
00:20:22
daily as we see our electrical grids our
senators and congressman and potentially
00:20:27
our voting booths undermined as well as the
media that we listen to and things that
00:20:31
we've taken for granted on social media
that actually are being manipulated
00:20:35
potentially by
00:20:36
a foreign entity or foreign power you know
all those things I don't believe would
00:20:40
be as exposed or less there was
00:20:42
a mall or investigation so turning back
to you Brett Schaefer the best again goes
00:20:47
on this past week we had the first trial
within the context of the investigation of
00:20:52
Paul man
00:20:53
a fort Mr Trump's former campaign manager
albeit on charges unrelated to Russia
00:20:58
specifically they were related to his alleged
bank fraud in tax evasion nonetheless
00:21:04
he's very close to the Kremlin so other
things may come out and I think that's
00:21:09
clearly
00:21:10
a concern of this White House and we've
seen different messages again coming from
00:21:13
the White House about Paul man of Fort at
times the president has defended him his
00:21:18
recent tweets have said the man
a fort and Dykeman is also
00:21:21
a witch hunt at times he's trying to
distance himself from Paul Man afford saying
00:21:25
he was only on the campaign
for a few months didn't play
00:21:28
a critical role that I really wasn't that
involved so whatever comes out it doesn't
00:21:32
have any kind of implications in terms of
the presidency the election cetera so I
00:21:38
think there is definitely some concern
from this administration about what will
00:21:42
come out during the course of this trial
and of course then there are so many other
00:21:47
angles that of his former lawyer
so-called fixer Michael Cohen and
00:21:52
a number of revelations that may hurt Mr
Trump or not in the coming weeks depending
00:21:58
on how particular that. Killer aspect plays
out but back to you Mark so Makowski
00:22:04
just to remind us you know what the
goal of Russia is in all of this and to
00:22:07
understand that Russia is
00:22:09
a bad actor you know trying to create chaos
undermine democracy around the world
00:22:13
not just here in the United States but in
Europe and why you know not withstanding
00:22:18
good faith efforts to want to get along
with our adversaries leadin their Putin's
00:22:23
Russia why that is very problematic given
their behavior whether he's of the our
00:22:29
democracy interfering in eastern Ukraine
having annexed Crimea unlawfully and so
00:22:36
many other bad acts that Vladimir Putin
is engaged in including poisoning former
00:22:41
counterintelligence agents on British soil
etc You know I think it's important to
00:22:46
look at that international context of
Russia's actions again from Russia's
00:22:50
standpoint its actions are bad its actions
are defending Russian national interests
00:22:55
the key point is that Russian national
interests often times contradict American
00:23:00
national interests and what you're seeing
play out in the world stage in Syria in
00:23:05
the U.K.
00:23:05
With attacks in Ukraine with the continued
occupation of Eastern Ukraine as well as
00:23:11
Russian activity potentially to serve as
00:23:13
a spoiler in North Korea our continued
Russian activities that fundamentally
00:23:17
undermine and contradict American
interests and so the objective of having
00:23:22
a normal good relationship with Putin is
not an American objective you have to
00:23:27
showcase how that will serve American
interests and when Russia continues to take
00:23:32
destabilizing actions around the world
that undermine our interests you have to
00:23:36
understand is it possible to have
00:23:38
a positive normalize relationship with
Russia the president has sought to achieve
00:23:43
again he should have the ability and the
right to engage with the Russian president
00:23:47
but that has to be done in
00:23:48
a way that defends American interests and
I think President Putin has been very
00:23:52
smart in his engaging with the President
Trump he doesn't necessarily want to
00:23:55
normalize relations with the U.S.
00:23:56
I think he actually understands very clearly
the President Trump. It's damaged in
00:24:00
his ability to coherently define
00:24:03
a policy toward Russia because of all the
congressional and domestic political
00:24:07
pressure that the president faces what
President Putin wants to do is undermine
00:24:12
American democracy divide Americans and
even divide the administration and because
00:24:17
the president's very stirring to purge
to Russia you're seeing all that and the
00:24:21
hangover of Helsinki is the president came
back amidst an uproar of his performance
00:24:25
which further damaged U.S.
00:24:27
Credibility because there's such
00:24:29
a clear conflict within the administration
how to approach in many ways Helsinki
00:24:32
was a victory for Putin
not that improve U.S.
00:24:35
Russia ties but a further undermine
the president's ability to conduct
00:24:39
a really unity on U.S.
00:24:41
Foreign policy and of course it
strengthens his hand that is flooding me
00:24:45
a Putin Brett Schaefer this is a dictator
an autocrat who does not preside over
00:24:50
a democratic system they have elections
these elections are rigged there is no free
00:24:54
press there is persecution of journalists
and civil society groups these are not
00:24:59
the norms that the United States shares
Russia is no friend of the United States or
00:25:06
any democracy based on its behavior absolutely
and I think what Vladimir Putin also
00:25:11
wants to do is undermine the idea of
objective truth we've seen that clearly with
00:25:17
how the Kremlin media operates so when
Donald Trump goes out and says something
00:25:21
like the American press are the
enemy of the people that's
00:25:25
a line that sits right out of Putin's
playbook so this sort of conspiratorial world
00:25:30
that has been created by the Kremlin and
by Kremlin media is something that we've
00:25:34
seen somewhat adopted
concerning Lee in the U.S.
00:25:37
As well so I think when you look at the
marrying of the two ideas the most
00:25:41
concerning thing is the attack on press and
the attack on the idea of truth because
00:25:46
of course when you see things like M.H.
00:25:48
Seventeen the airliner that was downed
over Ukraine the Kremlin didn't come out
00:25:52
with one narrative but what happened they
came out with about thirty the same thing
00:25:55
with the script Paul poisoning in the U.K.
00:25:58
So when you have an. Ministration consistently
attacks the press and says not to
00:26:03
believe the press that is playing right
into their hands because if we no longer
00:26:08
can say what is true and what is not
true I think people in the middle just
00:26:12
disengage from the political and social
process and that's enormously dangerous for
00:26:16
democracies that is all the time we have
on this edition of encounter I'd like to
00:26:21
thank my guests marks in
00:26:22
a KOSKY He's senior fellow at the Atlantic
Council's Eurasia center and Brett
00:26:26
Schaefer social media analyst at the Alliance
for securing democracy at the German
00:26:31
Marshall Fund of the United States
Gentlemen thanks so much for your terrific
00:26:35
insights and analysis thank you thank you
encounter was produced in Washington our
00:26:40
engineer was joking I'm Carol join me again
next week for another encounter on the
00:26:46
Voice of America.
00:27:09
Welcome to a learning English
00:27:12
a daily thirty minute program from the
Voice of America I'm Ashley Thompson.
00:27:20
This program is aimed at
English learners so we speak
00:27:25
a little slower and we use words and phrases
especially written for people learning
00:27:32
English. On today's
00:27:38
program on I'm A Teo brings us
00:27:41
a new episode of words and their
stories you will also hear two reports
00:27:48
from Phil dear King. And
Jonathan Evans has a story about
00:27:53
a rare and costly bird species
but first Mario Ritter has
00:27:59
a report on the influence that Chinese
tourists are having on small European towns
00:28:06
. Civita de Bonier Reggio is an
00:28:13
ancient Italian village about one
hundred twenty kilometers north of Rome
00:28:20
it was built on
00:28:22
a flat area of Cannick Rock High
above the Tiber River Valley
00:28:30
Civita is known as a dying city with
00:28:34
a year round population of
just seven for many years
00:28:41
people there had long believed that
the world economy had passed them by
00:28:49
they had become used to seeing their
young people leave for jobs in other
00:28:55
places but
00:28:57
a wave of tourists mostly from China
is helping the town's economy
00:29:05
this year Civita expects eight
hundred thousand visitors
00:29:12
from small villages to famous
Capital Cities Europe has seen
00:29:18
a sharp increase in Chinese
tourists the China tourism
00:29:25
Academy and the Chinese online
travel agency C trip say more
00:29:32
than six million Chinese citizens
visited European countries in twenty
00:29:38
seventeen year opinion officials
estimate the number to be close to
00:29:45
ten million. The most popular
countries to visit among Chinese
00:29:51
tourists are Britain Italy
France Germany and Spain
00:29:59
euro stat the European Union's
statistics agency says Chinese
00:30:06
tourism in Europe has increased by
two hundred percent in the past ten
00:30:13
years those numbers are
expected to increase this year
00:30:21
which has been named the China
you tourism year the marketing
00:30:27
effort was jointly launched by
the European Union and China
00:30:34
Europeans are both pleased with and
concerned about the growing number of
00:30:41
visitors the increase has stressed
some European airports and
00:30:48
is adding to development
issues in some areas some of
00:30:54
servers have different concerns
strapped for an American
00:31:01
research company has called Chinese
tourism an unexpected tool that
00:31:08
China can use to exit or it's
an influence their group added
00:31:15
that the huge rise in the number of
outbound Chinese travelers means their
00:31:22
combined economic weight can
have sharp consequences
00:31:29
strapped for also said the Chinese
government's ability to give countries
00:31:36
approved destinations status is
00:31:39
a way to control where Chinese
tourists can and will go.
00:31:47
That is how the government greatly reduced
the number of Chinese people traveling
00:31:53
to South Korea last year strapped
for noted experts saw the
00:32:00
move as an effort to punish South
Korea for deploying an American made
00:32:06
missile defense system that the
Chinese government opposed
00:32:14
the European Union however sees
the rise in Chinese visitors as
00:32:20
important to the economy the E.U.
00:32:24
Commission said tourism has the
potential to contribute towards
00:32:31
employment and economic growth as
well as to development in rural
00:32:38
areas forty five year
old Roberto men Corelli
00:32:45
oversees a bed and breakfast hotel
and restaurant and bonier Reggio
00:32:51
a few kilometers west of civi
Todd to Banja Reggio she said
00:32:58
that most of the visitors to the area
are Chinese they have brought money
00:33:05
into the town and the tourism has
increased the energy here she said
00:33:12
it has also increased the number of
businesses there used to be only two
00:33:18
restaurants and town she
said now there are ten men
00:33:25
Corelli said she has even begun learning
some Mandarin Chinese to help her
00:33:31
communicate with the visitors
the increase of visitors has
00:33:38
brought much more money to the small
number of people who live in Civita
00:33:46
not everyone is happy about it. An older
woman who gave her name as Giovanni
00:33:53
described the inflow as an
invasion to many people she said
00:34:01
her complaint is similar to those heard
in some of Europe's most famous cities
00:34:08
like Venice Barcelona
and pair us critics say
00:34:15
they are already overcrowded during
the tourist season and they say the
00:34:21
additional waves of visitors from China
and other Asian countries have hurt the
00:34:28
quality of life of local people
and strained infrastructure
00:34:35
Wolfgang Arlt is director of the
China outbound tourism Research
00:34:41
Institute he wrote in a recent
blog entry that there is
00:34:48
a growing number of sometimes violent
protests by local people and
00:34:55
some places popular with
travelers only seven
00:35:01
percent of Chinese citizens have
passports compared to forty percent
00:35:08
of Americans and that means
Industry experts say that
00:35:15
the possibility for even more
growth and Chinese tourism is huge
00:35:22
Arlt research group says the number
of trips taken by Chinese travelers
00:35:29
will increase from one hundred forty
five million in twenty seventeen to four
00:35:36
hundred million by twenty thirty
if those numbers are correct
00:35:43
then Chinese would make up one fourth
of world tourism by that he or.
00:35:51
On Mario Ritter.
00:36:13
The twenty eighteen Atlantica hurricane
season started two months ago but many
00:36:19
Texas families are still struggling
to recover from the damage caused by
00:36:25
a major storm last year the storm
named hurricane Harvey hits
00:36:32
Houston and areas around the city Harvey
caused flooding in many neighborhoods
00:36:40
Samantha and Justin Scott and their three
children live in the bear creek village
00:36:46
neighborhood just west of Houston for
Samantha Scott trying to get their life back
00:36:53
to normal has been
00:36:54
a frightening experience I think when my
kids think back to the past year of our
00:37:00
life especially our oldest I think he's
just going to remember that I cried
00:37:06
a lot she said the Scots are still rebuilding
their home after the floods caused
00:37:13
by Hurricane HARVEY It was one of the
wettest storm systems in the history of the
00:37:20
United States when Harvey hit Texas it was
00:37:24
a Category four hurricane this was the
first such storm to strike the U.S.
00:37:31
Mainland since two thousand and five for
the past year Samantha and the children
00:37:37
temporarily moved away from their home
while Justin stayed behind to work on the
00:37:43
house their youngest child was only
00:37:47
a few months old when their home was flooded
last August. I pretty much missed out
00:37:54
on the better half of the first year of
his life Scott said of his youngest child
00:37:59
Kyle missing things like watching him
walk for the first time watching him do
00:38:06
a lot of the stuff that kids do for the
first time I missed the Scots are not
00:38:13
alone storm damage can be seen
in nearby homes it just hits you
00:38:20
it's like
00:38:21
a slap in the face every single time it's
like it doesn't and the hurricane is
00:38:28
just continuing Samantha said throughout
the Bear Creek neighborhood many
00:38:35
homes have for sale signs and building
materials along the side of the street
00:38:42
on one street
00:38:43
a neighbor said only three families decided
to stay and the others wanted to sell
00:38:49
their homes for the families who
stayed rebuilding has been slow
00:38:56
many people do not have
flood insurance the Scotts
00:39:01
a neighbor Joe Franz moved to Bear Creek
in one thousand nine hundred four five
00:39:07
years ago he cancelled his flood insurance
policy to save money hurricane Harvey
00:39:14
was the first time floodwaters entered
his home friend said he had to take
00:39:20
everything out of the house and leave
it by the street like the rest of the
00:39:24
neighborhood bear creek
flooded because it is next to
00:39:28
a manmade lake which supplies water to
homes and businesses other homes in the
00:39:35
Houston area flooded because they sit
in low lying areas. Flood plains are
00:39:42
like little valleys and they can hold just
about anything nature can throw at us
00:39:48
including Harvey noted
John Jacob of Texas an M.
00:39:52
University Jacob said preventing
major flooding will take time fifty
00:39:59
years from now we need to be able to reclaim
all these flood plains so part of this
00:40:06
can be through by out with federal money
but the other part is just going to be
00:40:11
awareness he said Jacob said there will
be other storms and floods in Houston
00:40:19
so when people are buying
00:40:20
a home they should study maps of land
heights and look for houses built on high
00:40:26
ground Another solution is to
raise houses Jacob said he
00:40:33
lives in a house that has
00:40:34
a one metre high space underneath the
home for now many people like the Scots
00:40:41
are stuck in their existing
home this has kind of put us in
00:40:46
a situation where we can't really afford
just to pick up and leave Justin said
00:40:54
but the Scot family is thankful for even
00:40:56
a little progress on the
day they spoke with V.O.A.
00:41:02
Their new bedroom furniture arrived it was
the first night the family was together
00:41:08
in their home since the floods
hit I'm Phil dear King.
00:41:21
Now the V.O.A.
00:41:23
Learning English program words and
their stories. On this show we explore
00:41:29
American idioms and expressions. We try
to help you understand common expressions
00:41:36
and how to use them in every day
speech. You know at times in life
00:41:43
things just do not go our way we all
have days when nothing goes right
00:41:51
in fact everything goes wrong
mistakes mishaps and misfortune
00:41:57
seem to follow us around if you have
00:42:01
a long period of bad luck you
could say you are snakebit
00:42:08
Mirriam Webster online dictionary claims
that this usage of snakepit dates back to
00:42:14
nine hundred fifty seven it does not say
much about the history of the word but
00:42:21
getting bit by any animal would not be
00:42:24
a sign of good luck so perhaps the
root of the term is that simple
00:42:31
if you are snake bit for
00:42:33
a really long period of time you may
start to think that you are jinxed
00:42:41
the word jinx can be either
a noun or a verb as a noun
00:42:47
a jinx leads to bad luck and
misfortune if you junk something
00:42:54
verb form you bring bad luck
to something or someone
00:43:01
a jinx is like
00:43:02
a curse you really believe that
everything you do will turn out badly
00:43:10
even if you don't believe in curses just
thinking that something bad will happen to
00:43:16
you might make it happen now let's
hear how these terms are used by
00:43:22
two friends at
00:43:24
a basketball game. Laura this is been
00:43:30
a great game there's only five minutes
left and the game is tied I wish our team
00:43:37
would just score and pull ahead
being tied is driving me crazy it's
00:43:43
a good thing I wore my lucky hat What are
you talking about there is no such thing
00:43:50
as luck we just need to play better than
the other team look our team has been
00:43:56
snakebit For weeks we've lost
our last five games so they
00:44:03
need all the help they can get don't worry
there is no way we are going to lose
00:44:10
this game don't jinx us quick
knock on wood to break the jinx
00:44:17
there's no such thing as a
chink and I will not hit
00:44:21
a piece of wood or anything else
I'm not superstitious Well I am.
00:44:29
There maybe that will break the
curse you look foolish really
00:44:36
well our team just scored.
Some sports lovers and many
00:44:42
players are superstitious It is
00:44:46
a common part of the
sporting culture and we have
00:44:50
a special word for players who are having
00:44:53
a string of bad luck we say they
have the year. Having the year
00:45:01
is
00:45:01
a kind of nervous tension that affects
the person's performance for example
00:45:08
a baseball pitcher had
00:45:10
a bad case of the year. He could
not find his strike zone so his
00:45:16
coach replaced him in the game with
another player athletes and non athletes
00:45:23
alike can be snakebit. And some people
just seem to be snake bit all the time
00:45:31
you could say they were born under
00:45:33
a bad sign that means they were born
during an unlucky time of the year.
00:45:52
The bad sign in this expression relates to
00:45:56
a straw logy William Bell helped to
write this song he wanted to compose
00:46:02
a blues song about
00:46:04
a strongly gene. If
00:46:18
you were born under a bad sign
it means the stars were in
00:46:22
a formation that have worked against you
since birth this is also where we get the
00:46:29
expression it just wasn't in the stars
but we'll say of star expressions for
00:46:34
another program keep in mind being
snake bit is more than just one
00:46:41
unlucky thing happening to you so getting
dismissed from work can be an unlucky
00:46:48
event but if everything else in your life
is going great you would not say that you
00:46:55
are stank bit in order to be
truly snakebit you must have
00:47:00
a series of failures or problems and that's
words and their stories I'm on I'm A
00:47:07
Teo.
00:47:23
Small or large costly and even
rare birds can be found at
00:47:30
a pet store in the American community
of Falls Church Virginia and
00:47:36
it is clear from the name of the store
what kind of birds are available for sale
00:47:43
parrots parrots parrots just
parrots the small business is
00:47:50
filled with many bright colored parrots
from cockatoos to giant macaws
00:47:57
and small parakeets. Ed Willis
is the owner of the pet
00:48:04
store Willis says he received his
first PARROT when he was eighteen
00:48:10
years old since then he has
not spent another day without
00:48:17
a parrot Willis says the birds make
wonderful pets and can develop
00:48:23
strong feelings toward people is so unique
partnership according to a parrot and
00:48:29
a person and their independence but they
sure still needed they're happy to see you
00:48:34
when you come all it's just it's
00:48:37
a really special relationship Willis opened
his store in one thousand nine hundred
00:48:44
eighty eight today it is one of just
two businesses in the Washington
00:48:50
D.C. Area that only sell
parrots the hyacinth macaw
00:48:57
a rare parrot costs almost
seventeen thousand dollars there
00:49:03
are only about six thousand five hundred
of these birds left in the world
00:49:10
the parrot in Ed Willis's
store is young and has
00:49:15
a long life ahead of it McCaw as
can live up to one hundred years.
00:49:22
So from the neck up they like to have their
feathers ruffled in essentially. And
00:49:29
then from the neck down I like it
00:49:30
a smooth. Willis's arms are covered
with claw marks and by from
00:49:37
holding and caring for the big birds where
they're not really trying to hurt me
00:49:43
sometimes it just playfulness and sometimes
are scared overhaul. The story is
00:49:49
a busy place children and adults alike
come to the store to see the different
00:49:55
kinds of parrots but not all the
birds at the store are for sale
00:50:03
some have become like family to Willis
and his daughter Kelsey one such
00:50:09
bird is
00:50:10
a cockatoo named Snowball Willis
says he got snowball when the
00:50:17
bird was small. Ballers are not really
00:50:21
a typical cockatoo he's actually very quiet
and very friendly. A lot of doctors are
00:50:27
known for being a fairly
loud and he has not been so
00:50:31
a lot of people are interested
in the drug. I'm Jonathan Evans.
00:50:56
For many people the college admissions
process can seem mysterious but what
00:51:03
college admissions officials want is not
00:51:06
a secret schools present what they
want in the form of big data that
00:51:12
information is available to anyone
online. Students can use big data when
00:51:19
seeking admission to colleges or universities
where they will be strong candidates
00:51:26
this increases their chances for admission
and financial aid Here's what college
00:51:33
applicants should look for colleges
provide admissions and financial aid
00:51:39
statistics called the common data set
to satisfy the demands of education
00:51:45
publisher's notes Lynn O'Shaughnessy
00:51:48
a college consultant the information can
be found by searching the college's name
00:51:55
and the term common data set or at
websites for comparing colleges
00:52:02
the statistics for each school include
the cost to attend how much student loan
00:52:09
debt the average person builds up while
in college what percentage of applicants
00:52:15
are accepted and average class grades
and test results of incoming first year
00:52:22
students as an example let's consider
Stanford University in California at
00:52:28
Stanford seventy five percent of incoming
students for the twenty sixteen to twenty
00:52:35
seventeen school year had seven hundred
or above on the mathematics part of the
00:52:41
S.A.T.
00:52:43
Also at Stanford ninety four percent of
incoming students had grade point averages
00:52:49
above three point seven five
four point zero is considered
00:52:54
a perfect but higher grade point
averages are possible in addition ninety
00:53:01
five percent of the new arrivals were in
the top ten percent of their high school
00:53:07
class. Yes having fine grades and test
results do not guarantee admission to
00:53:13
a top college Stanford except just
five percent of people who apply
00:53:20
but knowing about the students who were
accepted can help applicants they can stop
00:53:27
thinking about unlikely choices for higher
education and focus instead on schools
00:53:33
where they are more likely to gain
admission experts say having grades and
00:53:40
test results that are above the school's
average can help with both an applicant's
00:53:46
chances of being accepted and getting
financial aid in the United States
00:53:53
the best financial aid deals do not always
come from highly competitive schools or
00:53:59
large public universities sometimes they
come from smaller colleges that are trying
00:54:06
harder to interest good applicants
says Cohen another college consultant
00:54:13
information about how
00:54:15
a school examines applicants can be found
in the data sets admissions factors
00:54:22
they show how each school rates one thousand
measures of admission everything from
00:54:27
class rank to after school activities
many schools for example think the
00:54:34
difficulty of an applicant's high school
classes and their grade point average are
00:54:40
very important some schools consider
standardized tests like the S.A.T.
00:54:47
As important all others do not most U.S.
00:54:52
Colleges do not fully meet the financial
needs of their students even when federal
00:54:58
student loans are considered families
are expected to find the extra money
00:55:04
themselves often through parental or
private student loans. The size of
00:55:10
a student's need depends on how willing
each school is to give them money for
00:55:16
example the cost of attending
New York University or N.Y.U.
00:55:22
And the University of
Southern California or U.S.C.
00:55:26
Is about the same about seventy two
thousand dollars a year U.S.C.
00:55:33
However fully met the financial need of
eighty point four percent of first year
00:55:38
students who received aid and why you
fully met the financial need of only nine
00:55:44
point one percent of its first year aid
recipients families who do not need student
00:55:50
loans for school can still get the cost of
00:55:53
a school reduced through something known
as merit aid merit aid is less common at
00:56:00
public and highly competitive schools
that have many applicants U.C.L.A.
00:56:06
For example offered merit aid which
averaged four thousand eight hundred forty
00:56:12
seven dollars to only two point six
percent of its first year students cost
00:56:19
is important say most experts they warned
that while it is important to have
00:56:25
a college education you do not
want to finish school with
00:56:29
a large debt I'm Phil dear King.
00:56:42
And that's our program today listen again
tomorrow for more stories and information
00:56:49
from around the world I'm.
00:57:08
New. At least six people were
killed thirteen others room. On
00:57:14
Sunday. The deadliest explosion happened
in the capital Mogadishu where four people
00:57:19
were killed in a car bombing outside
00:57:22
a coffee shop on the capital's busiest road
officials believe the car was driven by
00:57:26
a suicide bomber earlier in the day two
people were killed and four others were
00:57:31
wounded after a suicide
car bomb exploded near
00:57:34
a military vehicle in Afghan all of the
victims were government shoulder soldiers
00:57:41
claimed responsibility for that attack NATO
is mission in Afghanistan says three of
00:57:46
its soldiers were killed when
a suicide bomber attacked
00:57:49
a combat patrol on Sunday the
soldiers were from the Czech Republic
00:57:54
a strong earthquake struck the Indonesian
tourist island of Lombok on Sunday go.
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- Internet Archive Python library 1.7.7
- Scanningcenter
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Sound
- sound
- Start_localtime
- 2018-08-05 15:00:00
- Start_time
- 2018-08-05 19:00:00
- Stop_time
- 2018-08-05 20:00:00
- Utc_offset
- -400
- Year
- 2018
comment
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VOA [Voice of America] Global English stream_only Radio News Archive Radio Show and Programs ArchiveUploaded by arkiver2 on